WN: Bishops blame Israeli-Palestinian conflict for spurring Christian

[WorthyNewsBot]

Bishops summoned to the Vatican to discuss the flight of Christians from the Middle East have blamed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for spurring much of the exodus and warned that the consequences could be devastating for the birthplace of Christianity.

http://www.worthynews.com/top/haaretz-com-news-international-bishops-blame-israeli-palestinian-conflict-for-spurring-christian-exodus-from-mideast-1-318870/

[Botz]

Bishops summoned to the Vatican to discuss the flight of Christians from the Middle East have blamed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for spurring much of the exodus and warned that the consequences could be devastating for the birthplace of Christianity.

http://www.worthynews.com/top/haaretz-com-news-international-bishops-blame-israeli-palestinian-conflict-for-spurring-christian-exodus-from-mideast-1-318870/

This article is something that all Believers in the L-rd should be aware of as it high-lights an under-current of an accusation that has been levelled at the Jewish State for some time, and exposes a degree of anti-Semitism that has existed amongst leaders of established Church movements since the re-emergence of Israel as a nation.

It seems some of the bishops have got it right ..."Some bishops have singled out the emergence of fanatical Islam for the flight" but the others have reacted from an age-old prejudice that refuses to see what has clearly happened and appear to have no understanding of the spiritual aspect of the conflict...." others have directly or indirectly accused Israel of discriminating against Arab Christians and impeding solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

Several factors that in my opinion are also important to be aware of:-

Some (and I would guess it is the majority)of the leaders in the various Orthodox movements have long ago thrown their lot in with the Palestinians, and actively sided against the State of Israel in both word and deed, doing nothing to encourage a love of the Jewish people, and rather invoking a clearly defined self-justification for hating them. (I don't think this is too strong, as it is what I have heard from the mouths of some of these men).

This has had a snow-ball paralyising effect on the Christian Arab population, who have looked to these leaders as Fathers in the faith, and taken their lead from them....but unfortunately these Shepherds have not demonstrated the need for truth and justice, and have preferred to Tow the Moslem line....subsequently many of the Arab-Christians are virtually indistinguishable in their hatred and dislike of Israelis as they compromise.

This makes it extremely difficult to differentiate between nominal Arab-Christians, and those that actually love Jesus but have been mis-guided and fed a line...although some of the true-Believers have realised the threat to their way of life, their livelihoods and their ownership of property and land comes directly from the edicts of Islam (radical, fanatical or otherwise) and to remain amongst their own Arab people has become virtually impossible...which is why so many have fled to the West, leaving behind much of what was once theirs. Those that remain live in constant fear...with good reason, as they are generally viewed as outcasts and traitors because they are outside the vicious soul-sucking embrace of Islam.

The article articulates further, the accusation against the Israeli administration...."In fact, the working document of the two-week synod accused the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories for creating difficulties in everyday life for Palestinian Christians, including their religious life since their access to holy sites is dependent on Israeli military permission."

I don't know what constitutes a 'holy site'...if you think about it, the whole of the land of Israel is considered the 'Holyland' and so-called 'holy sites' in my experience have generally been places of commercial exploitation with willing self-appointed Arab-guides appearing as if by magic should you stare at something for longer than two seconds...seemingly offering you free information and insight into the history of the object or place you are observing...then demanding cash for the privilege and relying on your Western good-nature and naivity to come up with the goods. (suckers!)

To continue with the crux of the problem....even the excesses of the fanatical paramilitary groups are indirectly/directly blamed on Israel, take this example in the article to see what one is up against.... "Patriarch Gregory III, archbishop of the Greek-Melkites in Damascus, Syria, said fundamentalist movements such as Hamas or Hezbollah had been borne from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and warned Tuesday that the resulting flight of Christians would make a society with only one color: only Muslim."

To me it is true that they have emerged from the conflict, but their brief history also clearly demonstrates that they have been totally self-serving, and a so-called great leader and hero to their cause like Yassir Arafat was content to invoke hatred against Israel, and call for justice for his people, while squirrelling untold millions of his people's money in hidden personal bank-accounts...and on top of this...these fanatical organizations might never have seen the light of day if the surrounding Arab nations had the human decency to absorb their Arab brethren into their communities, when they reached refugee status....but for the sake of harmony and equivalency these things are swept under the massive carpet.

The article continues with comments from another Church 'worthy'...."American Cardinal John Foley, a longtime Vatican official who now raises money to support Christian sites in the Holy Land, also said the conflict had contributed to the growth of Islamic fundamentalism but blamed Israeli policies specifically."

Yep...somehow it is always Israels fault...and when some of them see this as the typical face/stance of what Christians think, it makes me really indignant...Islamic fundamentalism is virtually justified as a result of Jewish policies....this is not a Christian voice....IT IS RESOUNDINGLY ISLAMIC in its nature, and we should recognise the hall-mark of the Father of Lies.

A Rabbi and two Imams are going to address the Synod, and the Rabbi had this to add...."Rabbi David Rosen, head of interreligious affairs for the American Jewish Committee, said he expected some degree of blame would be voiced against Israel during the synod, which he was to address later Wednesday." (I bet he did!)...and went on to say..." But he said he thought the Vatican had done a responsible job in containing it and trying to ensure that the synod is not totally politically hijacked by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He insisted that Christians in Israel fared comparatively well compared to Christian communities in other countries in the region, noting that their private school matriculation rates were higher than even among Jewish schools.

He acknowledged that one issue - the recent decision by Israel to require new citizens to pledge a loyalty oath to a Jewish and democratic state - had ruffled some feathers and said he personally regretted it.

But he said it had been misunderstood by the Coptic Catholic patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, Antonios Naguib, who is running the synod. During a first-day news conference, Naguib called the decision a flagrant contradiction since Israel claims to be the only democratic state in the region.

Rosen said Naguib did not understand the difference between 'Jewish' as an ethnic collective and 'Jewish' as a religious expression, which is not what most Israelis understand the meaning to be of a Jewish state."

I have chosen to focus on this article because it stirs something inside of me, and gives an insight to all who might read it, of another sort of conflict that is going on in Israel, that is often presented from a biased and unjust view-point and can be quite insidiously deceptive. Nobody believes that Israel gets everything right, or that all of her policies are completely just or without blemish, but lets not buy into the lie that they are to blame for things firmly in the hands of Moslems with an Islamic world-view that will never recognise the legitimate reality of the existence of Israel.

[hupo]

This could very well be a split in the Christian world

If this be so, I wouldn't be surprised if the leaders of Islam are rubbing their hands together in glee

The world needs to wake up to the threat of the Islamic spirit

Islam is against anyone who is not Muslim and that "anyone" is a "somewhat" larger portion of the human race

But, you know, in the end, God's plans will be the outcome of anything going on today

I would suggest we join God's side in this battle

[nebula]

Bethlehem, controlled by Muslims, is not a safe place for Christians, while holy sites controlled by the Jews are safe places to live and to travel.

And they blame Israel.

Nice.